Troy Athens Grad's Video Wins Scholarship

TROY, MI — Ellie Rocheleau takes driving safety seriously. So much so, she created a video titled, “Save yourself from yourself.” The Troy Athens High graduate won a $1,500 scholarship for her efforts as part of the Kelsey’s Law Scholarship Stop Distracted Driving Contest.

A University of Michigan freshman, Rocheleau’s work took top honors in the video category. A total of $5,000 was awarded by Michigan Auto Law, a Detroit area firm that specializes in helping vehicle accident victims.

The scholarship is named in honor of Kelsey Raffaele, a Sault Ste. Marie 17-year-old, who was killed in a 2010 car accident. Her mother, Bonnie Raffaele, went on to push for Michigan’s first teen cell phone ban law in 2012.

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Michigan Auto Law, which is well-known for publishing an annual list of Michigan’s most dangerous intersections, created the scholarship last year to bring to attention the growing problem of distracted driving among teens.

“The response we received was amazing,” attorney Steven Gursten wrote in an Oct. 16. Blog. “By working with high school students, we hope that we can reach an audience that might otherwise tune us out as older adults and as lawyers.”

Statistics indicate that vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States, he added. About 11 percent of drivers involved in Michigan crashes were between ages 16 and 20, Gursten wrote.

In Rocheleau’s video, she plays a teen driver that’s about to reply to a text until she has a face-to-face encounter with her conscience. Take a look at the video:

Winning categories included:

• Overall Best Submission: $2,000
• Best Tweet Submission: $500
• Best Video Submission: $1,500
• Best Graphic Submission: $1,000

The law firm is taking submissions for the Kelsey’s Law Scholarship Stop Distracted Driving Contest 2018 scholarships. Information on how to apply can be found here.

Photo used with permission of Michigan Auto Law